. >> leon panetta is leaving his job as secretary of defense. in an impassioned address this week, secretary panetta warned of the looming budget cuts the pentagon faces due to sequestration. sequestration is washington argot for automatic spending cuts that will slash defense department budget by roughly $42.7 billion this year alone. the cuts are currently scheduled to go into effect on march 1, three weeks away. in his speech, panetta says the pentagon is already preparing itself for the budget axe. one of the most visible signs weeing the reduction from two to one the number of aircraft carriers the u.s. operates in the critical persian gulf. >> this is not a game. this is reality. these steps would seriously damage a fragile american economy, and they would degrade our ability to respond to crisis precisely at a time of rising instability across the globe. >> question. can the pentagon survive budget cuts or are secretary panetta's worries on the mark? mort zuckerman. >> yes, i think they can survive it. they have a gigantic budget. they ha